Full and rested, the group followed the vegetation-lined path deeper into the Floating Land.
The farther they went, the more open the terrain became.
The giant trees on either side grew sparse, and the enormous leaf platforms beneath their feet widened until they formed a vast plain in the sky.
The Cloud Sea churned below them. The wind was stronger here, snapping at their clothes.
"This place is wide open," Leorio said, stretching. "Almost feels like we're on the ground."
The moment he finished speaking,
a dense flurry of wings sounded overhead.
Bzzzz—
It drew closer and louder, like countless little planes bursting out of the clouds.
The group looked up, and their expressions changed.
More than a dozen giant flying beasts, each with a wingspan of four or five meters, dove out of the clouds straight toward them.
Thick gray-blue hide covered their bodies. Their wings were as tough as leather, their beaks curved into sharp hooks, and their eyes glowed crimson. They looked vicious.
"Cloudfeather Flying Beasts!" Genos scanned them. "Capture Level 22. Gregarious high-altitude predators. Resistant to wind and ultraviolet light. Their beaks can pierce ten-centimeter steel plate."
"Only level 22?" Gon's eyes lit up. He cracked his knuckles. "Perfect. I can test how hard I punch now!"
He kicked off the platform and leaped up, charging his right fist with Fifteenfold Spinning Rock before swinging at the beast in front.
His fist roared through the air.
On the ground, that punch could have collapsed half a mountain.
But high in the sky, things were different.
Just as he rose into the air, a crosswind swept through.
Gon lurched sideways. His fist grazed the beast's wing and missed. The wind spun him around, nearly sending him tumbling into the Cloud Sea below.
"Whoa!"
Gon grabbed a nearby